 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Carl L
Date: 2001-06-08 19:17
Kessler Music e-mailed me a "close-out" price of $1595 for a Buffet R13. Local music stores in the Cleveland area are selling the same horn for $1900 to $2100. After reading the "certified distributor" thread a couple of days ago, I'm wary of Kessler's great deal. Is Kessler a Buffet dealer? Is he talking about an E13 by mistake? Anybody else bought an R13 for 1600 bucks? Please add a thread and solve this mystery.
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Author: Matt Locker
Date: 2001-06-08 19:49
Carl:
WW&BW was selling NP R13's for $1495 last month. I presume that price may still be good there.
Matt
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Author: mw
Date: 2001-06-08 20:47
Matt, is 100% correct ... in that $1595 is NOT unusual. Someone purchasing a new Clarinet will (usually) want to consider purchasing a new mouthpiece and for Buffet products, possibly a (matching or better matching) barrel.
BUT, whoa ... the money you are saving COULD BE INSIGNIFICANT if you don't end up with a nice clarinet that SUITS YOU and HOW YOU SOUND!
If you could select from several clarinets at once, choosing one for tuning & sound you will be better off.
Best,
mw
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Author: KevinS
Date: 2001-06-08 21:32
Carl,
I live in Las Vegas, where Kessler Music is based. They are a very reputable company. In fact, they are the only folks I let touch my horns for repair and adjustment. The Owners, Chuck and Dave are good people who keep their word. They advertise the lowest price in the nation on Buffet R-13's. I have no doubt that this is true.
Give them a try!
Kevin Stockdale
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Author: John Gould
Date: 2001-06-08 21:37
I too live in Las Vegas, and can second the opinion of KevinS as to their reputability. They are also selling Greenlines for a good price if anyone is into those. Good people with good stuff. JG
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Author: Al
Date: 2001-06-08 22:25
I purchased 3 new R-13s for my students over the past 3 months for $1,589.00 each.
Found them on ebay and discovered that the dealers is only 5 miles away so I went to see him and the instruments personally.
Still on ebay.
Al
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Author: Al
Date: 2001-06-08 22:26
I purchased 3 new R-13s for my students over the past 3 months for $1,589.00 each.
Found them on ebay and discovered that the dealer is only 5 miles away so I went to see him and the instruments personally.
He's still on ebay.
Al
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Author: Rob
Date: 2001-06-08 23:38
According to the Boosey and Hawkes instrument website, Kessler's is an authorized dealer for Accessories, Parts, and Student Band Instruments. While I don't think much of R13s myself, I'm pretty sure that B&H would not classify them as Student Band Instruments. There is another authorized dealer category on the B&H site listed as Pro-Woodwinds and Kessler's is not given this designation on the B&H site. In light of this and based on the earlier thread (mentioned also by Carl) regarding warranty validation, I think there may be a problem getting B&H to honor the warranty on an R13 purchased there. Kessler's may be a very reputable organization and they may also be willing to provide the same level of warranty themselves (if B&H is not), but I would certainly ask them to provide documentation on the matter before making such a purchase, especially since warranty replacements of things like cracked joints can be very expensive for a dealer to pay for themselves.
Is it possible to check this with B&H on this? Maybe their site just hasn't been updated properly.
According to the B&H site the only authorized Pro-Woodwind dealer in Nevada is Carpenter's Music World in Reno.
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Author: Stuart A. Inselman
Date: 2001-06-09 02:27
In February I paid $1575- from Fred Weiner in Long Island, N.Y. for an R-13. They were running a February special.
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Author: Jim
Date: 2001-06-09 04:17
Be aware that some R13s are sold without the usual accessories. Muncy sells them with just the case and the 4 pieces, no mouthpiece/ lig/ cap etc. Not a big deal as no one on this board seems to use the Buffet mouthpiece anyway, but worth a mention to prevent surprise.
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Author: KevinS
Date: 2001-06-09 13:30
Just went in for my lesson yesterday. You could actually pick up an R-13 for $1,500.00!!!!! Kessler will stand behind everything they sell. Boosey will also. Their equipment is top rate, and as opposed to some other dealers, each instrument is gone over by their techs and play tested by the owner before it is given to the purchaser, regardless of the level of horn- student to pro. E-13's are even more reasonably priced than the R-13s. Give them a call if you have warranty questions or anything else. (no, I don't work for them--- I do feel strongly when I find a retailer I can trust, though.)
Best of luck to all!
Kevin
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2001-06-09 14:34
I just bought an R-13 from a Brook Mays store for $1,798.00 and got to play several before selecting the best one. They matched their website price and I got the advantage of getting to play-test. If you buy just through the mail you don't get to test several at once, and I found a huge variation among the ones I played.
But, it sounds like this is a real deal. My friend who owns the Brook Mays store in my town told me that there are so many R-13s it's possible for dealers to sell them more cheaply than any other professional clarinet. Like buying a Ford or Chevy over a Lambrogini. More made, less cost.
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